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Ok so I'm a life long Laker fan since the late 80's and as most of us know the Lakers signed a new multi Billion dollar deal with Time Warner Cable that will last 20 to possibly 25 years. The new regional network channels will be in HD and 1 in Spanish.

My understanding is that even though it's an exclusive deal with TWC that due to FCC rules they have to offer the new regional network channels to their competitors like Directv.From what I read in press release articles that the new channels will be available to people in LA,OC,Socal,SD, and even Las Vegas.

The network I think will be called Time Warner Cable Sports Net and is suppose to launch on 10/01/12 according to their website.

What will the new channels be called? The new networks will be called Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, broadcasting in English and Spanish respectively.

Where will I be able to watch Lakers games? Lakers games will be on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes in the Lakers territory. The Lakers territory, designated by the NBA, includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii. Some games will also be available via national broadcast.

Will this affect national broadcasts? No. Games will continue to be broadcast nationally on ABC, TNT, ESPN and NBA TV.

Will all games home and away be shown on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes? Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes will show all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games. There will continue to be exclusive national broadcasts during the regular season on ABC and TNT and on ABC, TNT and ESPN during the playoffs. The majority of Laker games during the 2012-13 season will be shown only on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes.

Will Lakers games be available via over-the-air broadcast? No, they will be available via Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes. Time Warner Cable will carry these networks, and they have begun discussions for carriage of their regional Sports Networks with all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory.

Will the same broadcasters and pre-game and post-game talent be used on the new networks?Lakers broadcasters Stu Lantz and Bill Macdonald will call games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Adrian Garcia Marquez and Francisco Pinto will call games on Time Warner Cable Deportes. Other on-air talent decisions will be handled closer to the actual launch of the networks on October 1st, in advance of the 2012-2013 season.

Will all the games be shown live? Yes, all games will be broadcast live. There will also be replays of games shown on the Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes.

Is this a Lakers only channel? There will be extensive Lakers content including behind-the-scenes, personality and classic programming and a primetime Lakers news and magazine show throughout the season, but there will be other programming on both Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes as well.

Will I have to get Time Warner Cable to watch the Lakers? While Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, which will carry the Lakers games, will certainly be carried by Time Warner Cable, the company has also begun discussions for carriage with all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory, which includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii. That includes Dish Network, DirecTV, etc.

Is Time Warner Cable Deportes an SAP feed? No, Time Warner Cable Deportes is a stand-alone network with its own dedicated production of game telecasts and other unique content tailored to Spanish speaking Lakers fans – not a SAP feed.

Why did the Lakers change their broadcast partners? We felt this was an opportunity to expand the range of Lakers programming for our fans using the latest technology and establishing the first Spanish-language regional sports network.

Where do I go for more information? You can read the official press release. You can also submit questions to losangeleslakers@la-lakers.com or visit www.twcsportsnet.com and www.twcdeportes.com.

DirecTV does not yet have a carriage agreement with TWC Sportsnet, but it is expected/anticipated that they will get an agreement. The Lakers franchise is too big to ignore, and DirecTV has a lot of customers in the SoCal region. Plus, the Lakers DMA stretches down to San Diego, up to Santa Barbara/Fresno, and includes Hawaii and Nevada including Las Vegas.

They will sign a deal with TWC I believe. But more often than not, DirecTV negotiates till the last minute, getting the best price possible, so there is a really good chance we won't know anything until the first week of October.

Keep in mind: Most Sports Bars have DirecTV, and if they can't show the Lakers because DirecTV doesn't carry the TWC Sportsnet channels, they will lose business and move some of their services to TWC or Cox real fast, both of whom have agreements.

So I would expect the channels, but I wouldn't expect any details till at least September.

[Disclaimer] The definition of "soon" is based solely on DirecTV's interpretation of the word, and all similarities with dictionary definitions of the word "soon" are purely coincidental and should not be interpreted as a time frame that will come to pass within a reasonable amount of time.

I'm not a huge fan of regulations but I would love to see a law passed that if any part of the sport is subsidised by the tax payers, not including ticket or merchandising costs, that the games must be broadcast free in the local markets.

I can understand the cash grab from out of market fans and since they don't have to pay for the stadiums I'm ok with it. I know this franchise is probably not exclusive of that but it's just the trend that is going to be the downfall of sports more than a help and the teams won't care because they have no risk.

I'm not a huge fan of regulations but I would love to see a law passed that if any part of the sport is subsidised by the tax payers, not including ticket or merchandising costs, that the games must be broadcast free in the local markets.

I can understand the cash grab from out of market fans and since they don't have to pay for the stadiums I'm ok with it. I know this franchise is probably not exclusive of that but it's just the trend that is going to be the downfall of sports more than a help and the teams won't care because they have no risk.

I kind of agree with some of what you said.

But you also have to remember that teams like the Lakers & Knicks in the NBA, The Yankee's, Cubs, Dodgers, and Red Sox in MLB are each sports league most historic & important franchises.

Both MLB & NBA thrive and do well business wise when these sports teams are doing well and competing for championships.

That's why those teams I listed above have their own dedicated regional sports network channels.The TV fan base in each market alone is huge.

The Lakers alone their TV network fan base spans 3 states (Southern CA, Nevada, and Hawaii).That's not including the rest of the Laker fans throughout the US and around the world.Which the NBA generates more revenue with sales through NBA League Pass.

Also factor in that the Lakers usually lead the league each year in merchandise, apparel sales.The Lakers always are the top draw and sell out arenas on the road also even for teams with horrible records like the Bobcats, Wizards, Bucks, T'Wolves.

That's why I'm happy with this new network launching. The past 10 years I've been spending yearly $189 or $99 for TV version of NBA League Pass or NBA League Pass broadband to watch about 15 to 20 non nationally televised Laker road games because we down here in San Diego got all the home games on FSN West but did not receive KCAL 9 for the non nationally televised road games.None of the TV providers (Sat, Cable, or Telco ) carried it down here in San Diego.

Main point I'm saying here is the NBA & MLB can't be compared to the NFL where everybody says that league parity is an awesome thing and gives all 32 teams a chance at winning a championship.

The NBA & MLB are very much star driven leagues and need their important and historic teams to do well in order for the leagues to do well financially.

I'm not a huge fan of regulations but I would love to see a law passed that if any part of the sport is subsidised by the tax payers, not including ticket or merchandising costs, that the games must be broadcast free in the local markets.

I can understand the cash grab from out of market fans and since they don't have to pay for the stadiums I'm ok with it. I know this franchise is probably not exclusive of that but it's just the trend that is going to be the downfall of sports more than a help and the teams won't care because they have no risk.

I get what your saying and agree, but just to check, you do know that not a dime of tax money went into staples center in any way...

does anyone know if Cox is talking to TWC about the new SportsNet channel being offered to Cox subscribers? I live in the Orange County area not San Diego...I can find info on the San Diego marketplace and the potential for carrying it in that market but nothing about the OC marketplace...tried calling Cox and it was like speaking to a bread loaf...customer service had no clue what I was on about!

does anyone know if Cox is talking to TWC about the new SportsNet channel being offered to Cox subscribers? I live in the Orange County area not San Diego...I can find info on the San Diego marketplace and the potential for carrying it in that market but nothing about the OC marketplace...tried calling Cox and it was like speaking to a bread loaf...customer service had no clue what I was on about!

Since this is a forum for DIRECTV satellite, your question is probably better answered on a forum such as here;

Didn't the city provide financing for a piece of the whole endeavor and use eminent domain to buy the land. And who paid for "infrastructure improvements" that always accompany new sports venues.

It is a private venture but to say no government money went into it is not quite accurate.

Ok, first, technically, the Lakers had nothing to do with the arena. They don't own a single piece of it, although the people that own the arena bought a piece of the Lakers and have first rights to bid on it I think if they ever sell the Lakers. AEG built the arena, and Los Angeles is very different than elsewhere. They rejected several proposals from AEG where they where trying to get some sort of the financing for the stadium through lots of taxes, or another things like that. The only thing AEG really got was some tax breaks on the taxes that would be collected from the new income on some of the parking structures they where building. I don't believe eminent domain was involved in this either. Not positive about that, but considering what was there before, no one would care about that, as long as they got paid, and AEG bought the land anyway, as well as the land across the street where they built the Nokia theater and Los Angeles live. Also they had to pay for upgrades to the roads to if I recall right, which really wasn't much to be honest. The only thing they really did is put in some new lights at one intersection. That area has had the same traffic management for a long time because it's next to the convention center, so it was already built for heavy traffic in and out. AEG I think realized that they could make a boat load of money even without any public funds of any kind, with staples as well as all the Los Angeles live stuff, and so jumped. They are trying to do the same thing with the football stadium. The city really wouldn't be spending any money at all on that, and basically contributing a little towards a massive new expansion of the existing convention center, which really is kind of needed when you compare our convention center to the other big ones.

Frankly, it's a good precedent to set in Los Angeles. Los Angeles says we don't need you as much as you need us, (see our nfl team) and you know you'll make money, so don't ask us for money. I wish for everyone's sake that all cities would do the same. These companies have the money to do it all on their own, or they shouldn't be doing it.

does anyone know if Cox is talking to TWC about the new SportsNet channel being offered to Cox subscribers? I live in the Orange County area not San Diego...I can find info on the San Diego marketplace and the potential for carrying it in that market but nothing about the OC marketplace...tried calling Cox and it was like speaking to a bread loaf...customer service had no clue what I was on about!

If cox has it in San Diego then I can't see them not having it everywhere in market.

Thank you all...I will try the provided link...might soon be a dish subscriber so I will keep myself registered here!

Before you make the jump.... Dish has dropped all the RSN's in the New York area, and given the fact that DirecTV has a large, firm customer base in Los Angeles (and OC), there is a lot more chance that DirecTV will carry this network where Dish Network might not.

I would wait till announcements are made in October. If you can't wait that long and are going to take a chance: I'd wanna bet DirecTV has a higher chance of carrying the TWC Sportsnet Channels than Dish Network.

[Disclaimer] The definition of "soon" is based solely on DirecTV's interpretation of the word, and all similarities with dictionary definitions of the word "soon" are purely coincidental and should not be interpreted as a time frame that will come to pass within a reasonable amount of time.